Rating: 
Summary: SCARY!
Review: I was a bit hesitant to rent this, but when I did, well it blew me away. It was almost as scary as the Exorcist. That's a hard thing to pull off. This is the ONLY scary vampire movie, and this is true horror! If you liked this, check out Pet Sematary, Stephen King's It, The Shinning, or the BEST one The Exorcist! If you are thinking about buying, just do it, don't waste your time reading the review, just buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: Is somebody tapping at the window?
Review: It was very interesting reading reviews of this DVD by both people who are to young to have seen this when it was made and those of us who saw it on broadcast TV/CBS in early 1979. Back then VCR's and Laser Disc players had only recently been invented were not yet common. Also, most people did not have cable TV. We did, but I was in New York. The most valid criticism of the production I have read was that Salem's Lot had terrible set dressings. Watching on DVD I take the time to notice that it is a little odd that a doctor's wife, even in a small town, is wearing dimestore jewelry and not real pearls. Having said that this was excellent TV for its time. You have a nice collection of TV character actors that I grew up with, David Soul and Lew Ayres especially good. You also have a great film actor in James Mason. I wonder if Stephen King is trying to keep everybody from moving to the small towns in Maine, because after reading several of his books and watching some of the resulting movies and TV series I wonder why anyone would! Vampires, werewolves, cemetaries, things that go bump in the night, Mr. King brings them to life vividly in his books and Salem's Lot the mini-series did a credible job of presenting some of the material. When this was shown on TV I was a boy of Lance Kerwin's age, just a little younger and had the same hobbies and collectibles as a kid, classic horror films, vampires, Frankenstein, etc. I got one heck of a scare out of the window tapping scene. Most movies and TV of that time will seem low-tech and low-budget to todays jaded pre-teens but Salem's Lot was great TV then and a good movie even today.
Rating: 
Summary: I'd really like to see this remade...
Review: I had some positive thoughts about this adaptation of Stephen King's novel, going back to when I saw the mini-series on TV. I knew that I would enjoy the DVD, and was prepared for it to be "dated" in terms of special effects (and it was!), which usually leaves a sort of "campy" feeling in films.Watching the miniseries again on DVD, I determined that, special effects aside, it was just bad. James Mason and Bonnie Bedelia, along with some quirky character actors (Fred Willard!) make it viewable, but just. David Soul and Lance Kerwin are bad. Really bad. No wonder they have disappeared from view. It was as though they were cast for the same "look"....blond stoic, without regard to whether or not they could make the film believable. There are a few scares, but too few. The book was so frightening, it is hard to believe that no one will try to film it again, with better graphics and visual effects, and please, please, better actors. Tobe Hooper redeemed himself a little with "Poltergeist", but it is obvious that he was trapped in a TV production with too little budget to bring the book to life.
One last note....the score is atrocious! Please, Mr. King....have this one remade!
Rating:
Summary: This one out vamps even Drac himself!
Review: This is one of the better Stephen King adaptation. Oftentime what works on paper does not work on the silver screen. WIth the exception of Carrie, Misery and the Shining, most of King's onscreen adaptation often falls flat....lacking the sense of isolating terror that often permeates his novel. What makes Salem's Lot even more special is that it was made for TV way back when what is shown on TV was much more restricted. I will spare you the summary of what this movie is about, for I will not insult your intelligence. What strikes me is that I read the novel after the seeing the film and realized how perfectly the movie captured the essence of the novel. For example, the cast. Each person fits his or her character perfectly, even Bonnie Bedelia (her character was a blonde in the book). The town itself, especially when it was becoming deserted and those who realized what is happening and is able to quickly moved out. The eerie opening titles with the Marsten House in pitch darkness with that one lit window. The two guys driving the truck with that crate box in the rear that slowly and inexorably creeps toward them, and later, the two guys running out of the basement in terror. The funeral, when the sexton was throwing dirt onto the coffin (thud thud "stop staring at me!..")....and the Glick kid coming back for his brother through the hospital window.... There are of course, changes made to the original story, but that is just quibbling. Salem's Lot is a modern day classic.
Book AND movie.
Rating:
Summary: Creepy, in that "made for TV" kinda way
Review: Salem's Lot stands as one of Stephen King's all time masterpieces, yet unlike some of the other screen adaptations of his works, this one leaves a bit to be desired. That being said, I don't want to sound as though I'm bashing Salem's Lot: The Full Length Miniseries. We have to keep in mind it was made for television with a primetime audience in mind. Not the best setting in which to display the true horrors of King's novel, i.e. the tragic demise of Ralphie Glick. Still, I recommend the Miniseries if you really want to get an abridged visual sense of Salem's Lot without reading the book. David Soul does Ben Mears justice with his feeble charm and aloofness. James Mason, good in just about anything, is a great pick for Straker. If you're looking for a few good scares, without the gore, this is for you. All in all, if you really want to take in all that Salem's Lot has to offer, read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and Scary
Review: When I first saw Salem's Lot I was 18 years old and had just finished the book. It was on DVD sitting on the rack for 6.99. I bought it. When I got into the movie it got really scary. It was scary to see the Glick boy coming up to his brothers' window with sharp teeth, glowing eyes, as he tapped on the window. It was a wonderfully made movie. when Barlow came out my heart started to pound loudly. he was scary. I reccomend this movie to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad adaption, bad movie
Review: the movie was so slow paced. the makeup was lousy. most of the acting [wasn't good] (for instance when ben mears puts the cross on mrs glick's forehead and she starts screaming). the filming was also poorly done. the plot was not explained at all(why did people open up the vampires' coffins or open their windows for them) and unless you knew about vampires(or read the book) it was impossible to follow. if you DID read the book youll just sit there saying that this is not how i thought it should be. i have more critisism but i'll say one good thing. if you're not hoping to watch salems lot and you dont think too much, but are just interested in seeing a tv show, you could enjoy it because it is scary at some points
Rating:
Summary: Near-Classic, Worth Watching Again & Again
Review: Hard to believe NBC actually took David Soul and cast him in a series based on Bogart's "Casablanca" rather than building a series based on this well-made TV movie. "Salem's Lot" was superior to most theatrical releases back in its '79 release. David Soul's typical lack of expression & intensity is not noticed here because so many things happen around him and to him. Interesting period piece, with the elderly teacher's wide '70s necktie, the doomed realtor (Crockett) in his Plymouth Volare wagon (remember, no minivans back then), earth tone colors in some interior shots. Notice how Soul was mixing collarless shirts with sportcoats *5* years before Don Johnson supposedly started that style on Miami Vice.
Good suspense that is rarely approached in today's special effects-driven productions. Easily worth watching a couple of times a year. James Mason excellent (as he was in "Bloodline" from the early '80s). A best buy!
Rating:
Summary: So scared I couldn't finish it...and I'm 33
Review: I too am one of the viewers who originally saw the mini-series as a pre teenager. It was shown on two consecutive saturdays and I was totally horrified watching both episodes. I actually walked in on the scene where the Glick boy floated in from thefog tapping at his brother's window. I thought the movie was some ghost made for tv movie. That is until I horrfyingly watched this apparition hover over his bro' and take a chunk out of his neck! I was glued and repulsed ever since. To me this has to be the greatest or perhapsone of the greatest horror movies ever. Why? I think mainly because so much of the horror comes from the unsaid in this film. David Soul's sense of dread of the Marsden House, and James Mason's brilliant performance as Mr. Barlow's keeper are two awsome example of how actors can portray so much feeling and dread without going overthe top with unending screams. I love Mason's line, "Mr. Barlow is so looking forward to meet you." OOOOO! gives me chills.
I recently began watching the dvd version and I couldn't finish watching it because of the sense of dread and fear bulding up within me!
Don't bother with the mutilated movie version. I bought the movie version thinking it was going to add scenes not suitable for tv and boy was I fooled!
I too have read the novel of the same name and I was frightened by the book as well. In fact it was the first SK book I had read and I was surprised that I enjoyed his work so much.
If you love movies in general this one you cannot afford to miss!
Rating:
Summary: Has the extra footage lacking in some versions
Review: I finally learned what happened to Bonnie Bedelia because the version on VHS tape that I bought years ago was missing the ending of the movie. Also, it has a few extra clips that give meaning to some of the scenes.
For you "fussy" collectors like me, the DVD Video and Audio are a 4 out of 5.
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